The Scroll #212

​ ​ Good Morning Beautiful! (OK, it's actually afternoon now, boy am I slow with writing today!) Do you have your cup of coffee ready? I've got mine (it's the cup with the picture of my grandchildren on it). Have you been outside this morning? I just took a stroll around the yard with the dogs, said "hey" to the chickens and told them that I would do my best to get out there and clean their coops today. That's a yucky job for me, but I know it's best for them. Funny aside: After I clean their coop and put all fresh shavings in there and open the door to allow them back inside the actual coop, they are always afraid to come in. They act like they've never seen this place before and it takes quite a while for them to come in and get reacquainted with their house. lol. Anyway, ON TO THE FOOD! This week at Loaves and Dishes we are thinking about the BIG BOWL GAME! I know you are wanting to get your recipes together, so let's do that! (Are you a "Go Chiefs" or a "Go 49'ers"?) Either way, you'll need these snacks! ​Peanut Sauce Chicken Skewers - These are DELICIOUS and a perfect for the Big Game Day! You make them on the grill. So good! ​This Cowboy Dip (even though, sadly, the cowboys didn't end up in the Big Game, it's still a great dip! Maybe you can call it Chiefs Dip or 49'ers Dip?). ​Pizza Nachos are a winner with everyone and EASY to make! ​Pigs in a Blanket with Little Smokies - you probably already know how to do these but make up some delicious sauces and you'll have a hit on your hands! ​Seafood Dip Anyone? Everyone loves a good seafood dip and you can pair it with pita chips or a hearty thick bread. Just be sure no one has a seafood allergy. This Hot Bacon Dip and just delicious and has been a family favorite for YEARS! It's perfect for Game Day! _________________________ HOT COOKING TIP OF THE WEEK I learned a neat tip while traveling this week and thought I would share it with you because guess what? I'm terrible about snacking! Do you snack more than. you should? Here's how it goes down for me. I get hungry. I go look in the fridge and the cabinets and there's nothing that is easy to warm up and eat, instead everything would have to be cooked. So I grab a few cookies or some chips or some crackers EVEN IF IT IS MEAL TIME! Thus, my snacks aren't healthy and those snacks turn into meals and sometimes I go all day long without eating a single healthy thing. My friends keep the following in the fridge and cabinets: Taco meat that they cook up a pound at a time. Rice - either home cooked or the kind you warm up in the pouch Shredded cheese. Cherry tomatoes. Avocados. Sour Cream. Spinach. Black Beans. Fresh salsa. Hot Sauce. Tortillas. The meat from a rotisserie chicken. Premixed seasonings. Are you seeing what is happening here? Fixings for some healthy nachos, a healthy rice bowl or an easy tortilla filled with good stuff is always available. As busy parents they have something on hand that the baby likes and that they like and a quick lunch or meal can be prepared in minutes where some delicious veggies are consumed with flavorful meats and just a dash of dairy. My friend said, "We have to be careful because the baby loves cheese and sour cream, so we try to limit those a bit" (The baby isn't the only one, I do too!). My friend said she spends a few minutes on Sunday cooking the taco meat. It's easiest to pick the meat from the rotisserie chicken as soon as you bring it home while it's still hot. Then those go in a container and are ready for the week. You can get a large rotisserie chicken for a few dollars at Sams or Costco. PRO TIP: If you are feeling energetic, frugal and like amazing yourself, put the chicken bones from the rotisserie chicken (just put that whole carcass in) in an 8 quart stockpot filled with water and a few veggies (like celery, onion and carrots) and salt on the stove, allow to simmer for a couple of hours and add more water if it evaporates (don't boil it hard, just a gentle simmer). After an hour or two you'll have about 6 quarts of chicken broth that you can freeze for use later (have you priced chicken broth? That's about $18 of broth). _____________________ THREE LITTLE THINGS Sharing a few little things I'm thankful for so that maybe we will both be reminded to be thankful for the larger things. + Thankful for my fuzzy slippers with a nice sole. I can slip my feet into a fluffy heaven and can even walk outside to the car if I need to. It's so so nice! + Thankful for my small town world where things like a mess up on my post office box can be fixed simply enough by someone who has known me for the last 15 years. + Grateful for the sunshine and warm days with time to enjoy a few minutes of the day outside. _____________________ A FINAL WORD Last week, I was struggling. I shared some of that here with you and some of you reached out via email to let me know that you struggle too and you are here too! Thank you so much! Sometimes you don't know how much someone thinks of you until it's almost too late. I found that out with my old horse last week. She injured herself and while I had thought for the last 30 years that she really didn't like me at all, I found out while she was injured, I was the one she really needed and wanted. I think it's that way with people too. We have to find grace for folks who act like they couldn't care less about us or who let us down regularly. That isn't easy to do. I was just talking to a friend who has suffered through infidelity in her relationship and somehow she has found the grace to forgive. It has cost her a lot personally and emotionally to do that. That said, not forgiving and not finding that grace would have cost her even more. Why am I sharing this here? I don't know. It was just on my mind. My old horse passed away last Saturday and I am so glad that I found out that she really did depend on me. That gives me a lot of comfort and I'm glad that I always found the grace to put up with her antics. Thank you so much for reading, following and sharing this newsletter. I'm always so happy to hear from you if you want to write me back. You can just click "reply" to this newsletter and it will come straight to my inbox, I'm the only one who will see it. I will write you back ASAP. Do you need a certain recipe? Need to know how to do something in the kitchen? Have something you want to share? I'll be happy to answer! Take care! Love you! See you next Friday in your inbox! Wendi Jo ​Unsubscribe | Update your profile | PO Box 82 , Danbury, NC 27016